After you read these toilet cleaning hacks, you'll love cleaning the toilet! Well, maybe you'll hate it less?
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10 Toilet Cleaning Hacks That Make a Dirty Job So Much Easier
Updated on Jan. 31, 2024
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@lauracleanaholic Do you have a steam cleaner? Let me know your steam cleaning tips in the comments?✨ #CleanTok #steamcleaning #steamclean #cleaningtiktok #cleanwithme #LearnOnTiktok ♬ original sound – slay
Steam Cleaner
No matter how much we scrub, germs love to lurk in hidden crevices. That goes double for toilets!
Instagram star @Lauracleanholic, aka Laura Mountford, loves her steam cleaner for sanitizing every surface in her bathroom, especially the toilet. “A steam cleaner,” she says, “is a great way to hygienically clean your toilet, killing bacteria using water.”
Mountford says “under the rim of the toilet is an area that is often forgotten,” so get a steam cleaner with an angled nozzle to make things easier. The popular Bissell SteamShot works on toilets and other hard surfaces throughout your home. And at $36, it won’t break the bank.
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The Pumie
Every expert I’ve ever talked to about toilet cleaning — and let me tell you, that’s a lot — raves about pumice stones. Specifically, the Pumie.
No matter how often you clean your toilet, it always seems to develop gross-looking stains and rings from excess minerals in the water. That’s no surprise given 85% of us live in a hard water region of the country.
Pumice stones like the Pumie contain no harsh chemicals and they won’t harm porcelain. To use, clean the bowl first with a traditional cleaner to remove grime. Then dunk the Pumie in the water and start scrubbing.
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Power Drill
When scrubbing by hand just isn’t cutting it, it’s time to bring in the extra juice. “Power scrubbers are great,” says Ryan Knoll, owner of Tidy Casa in Phoenix, Arizona.
You can buy branded bathroom scrubbers, but Knoll says power drill attachments serve the same purpose. Yep, the same drill you use for projects around the house can be put to work scrubbing toilets.
“Just attach the brush to your drill and start scrubbing the toilet bowl,” Knoll says. The rotating action makes quick work of stubborn grime and scale.
Pro tip: Drain the bowl first! Drill attachments work wonders, but the last thing you want is a face full of toilet water.
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High-Acid Cleaner
If you look on the back of a standard toilet bowl cleaner, you’ll probably see an acid, such as hydrochloric acid (HCL), as the main ingredient.
Acids are great at dissolving limescale, which builds up in the bowl from standing water, and they kill germs. Sometimes, though, you need a little more muscle than the stuff you buy at Target or Walmart.
“If you go to a janitorial supply store,” Knoll says, “the cleaners have different levels of acid.” This Lysol toilet bowl cleaner sold at Walmart has 9.5% HCL, while this Husky brand, from Dallas-based Master Cleaning Supply, contains 23% HCL.
“So, if you have a really bad stain you can’t get out,” Knoll says, “consider going to one of these stores to get a higher acidic based cleaner.”
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Bleach Tablets
Hard water and germs aren’t the only enemies of a fresh, clean toilet. Mold can also build up, particularly under the rim.
Chris Willatt, owner of Alpine Maids in Denver, Colorado, recommends adding add a bleach tablet to the tank once a month. This easy trick kills bacteria and mold and keeps your toilet cleaner longer than just cleaning the bowl.
“Make sure you get way up under the rim of the bowl when you clean,” Willatt says. “This is where mold and bacteria buildup starts. If you aren’t cleaning under this area, your bowl will be dirtier more often.”
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Gel Toilet Stamp
Remember those under-the-rim toilet blocks? They had a metal or plastic cage and hung on the side of the bowl, so every time you flushed the water it would release the cleaner. The latest alternative: A dissolvable under-rim gel — no hardware in sight.
“They are a more hygienic alternative to rim blocks,” Mountford says. “There is no plastic case, so they simply dissolve.”
Just stamp the applicator under the rim and release. It couldn’t be easier. The gel lasts for six days. When it’s gone, simply reapply. Here’s what you should do if your toilet bubbles when flushed.
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Update Your Brush
Speaking of cleaning under the rim, if you’re still using that same plastic bristle brush from the 1950s, it’s time to let it go. There have been many toilet brush innovations lately (no, I didn’t know this either), including changes in the shape and materials used — giving you more control, better cleaning and less splashing (gross!).
Silicone toilet bowl brushes look the same as the old style, but they dry faster and have fewer nooks and crannies where water, hair and gunk can hide. Willatt loves disposable toilet brush heads because they’re sanitary and work on hard water stains. And check out this squeegee design — how cool is that?
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@carolina.mccauley Toilet Brush cleaning hack ?✨ #cleaninghack #hacks #homehacks #homehackswithcarolina ♬ EminemRemix. Bilston.Web – Francesco
Clean Brushes Like a Pro
Once you’ve scrubbed the toilet, do you just put the brush back in that little compartment behind the toilet? You know, the one that you knock over half the time when sweeping and mopping? That’s filled with creepy, watery who-knows-what?
This simple hack for disinfecting and drying your toilet brush is so brilliant you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it sooner.
After you’ve scrubbed your toilet, close the toilet seat over the dirty brush handle, centering the brush head over the water. Pour hot water over the brush, then spray with disinfectant. Allow to dry before putting back in the holder. You’re welcome.
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@cleanwithpinkstuff Satisfying ☁️FOAMY☁️ toilet clean using our The Pink Stuff Power Foaming Toilet Cleaner ?? @Drea A. ?? #asmrcleaning #toiletclean #deepcleaning ♬ original sound – The Pink Stuff
The Pink Stuff
Have you heard of The Pink Stuff? It burst onto the scene a few years ago, and Mountford swears by it. It cleans your toilet, smells great and now there’s a powder version, too. Cleaning your toilet just got easier!
“You simply pour the powder into the bowl, watch it fizz up and then leave to work [its] magic before scrubbing using a toilet brush,” Mountford says. The Pink Stuff takes care of limescale as well as grime, and Mountford says it’s “just really satisfying to use.”
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@findtime2bekindBefore and After – Have you ever cleaned the toilet water tank? ??♬ original sound – Shannon
Vinegar and Citric Acid
If you don’t like the idea of handling powerful, corrosive chemicals, don’t worry. People have been cleaning toilets the natural way since ancient times. “White vinegar or citric acid are both brilliant for removing limescale,” Mountford says.
Here’s how to do it:
Soak a paper towel in white vinegar, roll it up and put it under the rim of the toilet. Leave it overnight and the hard water scale will be gone in the morning.
For citric acid, which is just a mild acid found in lemons, limes and other citrus fruits, Mountford says to “add a couple of scoops of citric acid to your toilet bowl and leave for a few hours to remove limescale.”
